WATCH: Mayor of Caracas Ledezma escapes to Colombia after house arrest in Venezuela

CUCUTA, Colombia – Mayor of Venezuela capital Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, spoke to reporters in Cucuta in Colombia on Friday following his escape from house arrest in neighboring Venezuela.

The 62-year-old is a vocal opponent of President Nicolás Maduro and has been under arrest since 2015 for his support in a coup attempt.

Colombia has been one of the biggest supporters of the right-wing opposition who since April this year have tried to violently overthrow Maduro with the backing of the US.

Former Colombian President Andres Pastrana tweeted: “Welcome to freedom!” in response to the news, despite the fact Venezuela has conducted more elections in the past decade than any other Latin American state.

Paul Antonopoulos is a Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies. He has an MA in International Relations and is interested in Great Power Rivalry as well as the International Relations and Political Economy of the Middle East and Latin America.